April 05, 2014

Stepping Stone Collage - Space

I have had a heavy, gnarly cold all week. Today I know that I've turned a corner as I found myself creating a new collage. Here it is, the latest in my Stepping Stone collage series. (Click on the image to enlarge)

A reclined buddha dreams of a desert journey. "Like a question mark in the dust, the world's oldest desert asks more than it reveals. Abandon pride, and perhaps shoes, and you may get a few answers. The first lesson Namibia's arid enigma teaches - by way of roiling, broiling, immense oceans of sand - is that you're small. Really small. To soar by plane over the cracked clay pan of Sossuvlei is to embrace both the enormity of southern Africa's sand sea and the certainty that this 55-million-year-old ecosystem will guard its secrets for ages to come. On foot, the scale and silence of this sandscape seem like a sun-stoked fever dream." ~ National Geographic's Traveler Magazine.

As we move across the collage, we come to flamingos taking flight. (source: National Geographic)

A Laurel Burch sun is capped by a couple of architectural illustrations creating an unlikely landscape.

Of all the images that I assembled for this collage, the one that caught my attention is the Angolian giraffe. A search about the symbolic meaning of giraffes led me HERE where I learned to "call upon the giraffe when you are in need of a higher position with which to analyze the foggy terrain of your life. Also call upon the gentle nature of the giraffe to help you with gracefulness in action, patience, and sturdy footing in life's potentially rocky terrain."

My process for collage making is purely intuitive. As I sat down, the word "space" was rolling about. What I desired was to create space for the sake of creating. As I flipped through a pile of magazine clippings I decided to honor my instincts and grab what grabbed my attention.

The finished piece shows clearly how drawn I was to the brown, sandy, desert palette. I started with the central image and from there everything flowed from it. After researching the meanings of the desert and giraffe I can draw some meaning for myself:

What I'm sensing is that the winds have changed, shifting the sands and the ground that I've stood upon for so many years. With this shift my perspective has changed - what I thought I wanted in a career, my blogging and online presence, how I spend my time each day - it is all shifting. With the ground shifting from underneath me, I have felt really small just as the Namibia desert suggests. It is interesting to interpret my collage, to allow the images from my intuitive play to help me find the words to what I've been discerning. It may be time for me to be like the giraffe and to stretch out my neck. My husband has a new schedule this spring. Our hours off together will be few and far between which will create some new space for me to discern. I plan on filling this new found time with meditation, journal keeping, and collage making.

Shortly after finishing my collage I noticed a calendar that my friend had made. Much to my delight (and surprise) a cute giraffe was staring back at me. What do you think she is asking?

All of this talk of giraffes reminds me of my own close encounter with this beautiful species in 2007 when I took my son to San Diego.

That fresh little one was born only a couple of hours prior to taking this shot.

Amazing, isn't it? I can't imagine standing and walking only an hour or two from entering into this world.

I'll close with a look at my Stepping Stone collage series to date. This is a fun journey for me as I have no idea where it will take me. (Click image to enlarge)

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you find some time for creative play.

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Another wonderful collage,Kathryn! I find the color palette used in this collage interesting as it connects with the first collage in the series (reds/browns). The second collage stands alone (blue/black) with its color tones.

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About Kathryn Costa

COLLAGE DIVA + CREATIVE DABBLER

Thank you for swinging by! CollageDiva.com is my blog where I share my love for life and creativity. I'm passionate about mandalas, collage making and mixed media, art journaling, photography, and connecting with people all over the world through blogging and social media.

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